Repent, all ye doubters. There can be no question south of Heaven now. The Chargers are a great road team. Well, they are if you close your eyes and pretend to be somewhere else -- like, you know, Dallas.

For the few Chargers fans who steadfastly refused to sell their tickets to Cowboys rooters and made their way to Qualcomm Stadium Sunday afternoon, they had to feel like Woody Allen trying to sing over Pavarotti. It seemed like half of America was rooting for half of America’s Team.

Chargers running back Ryan Mathews helps to run out the clock to seal the Chargers victory during the Chargers football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
— Earnie Grafton / UT San Diego

Quarterback Philip Rivers greets Antonio Gates after their hook-up for a touchdown during the Chargers football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
— Earnie Grafton / UT San Diego

But their whispers were answered. The Depleteds -- I mean the Chargers -- roamed around like Ulysses, overcoming obstacle after obstacle and bad news after bad news, eventually getting to Ithaca and kicking out the scoundrel suitors and beating the Boys 30-21.

It was a nice win, a big win, the largest reason being that they avoided slipping to 1-3, which generally puts playoff hopes toe-tagged in the NFL morgue. And given this team’s current health, this column had all the earmarks of an obituary.

“This is a huge win,” said quarterback Philip Rivers, who was so good it was enough to scare goblins, whatever goblins are.

Probationary coach Mike McCoy is to be congratulated. He entered the game missing three starting offensive linemen, forcing quarterback Philip Rivers to play behind some people he’d probably recently met at a checkout stand in Vons. And if Rivers didn’t have his best day as a pro -- recording the highest completion percentage in NFL history in a game in which a quarterback threw for 400 yards -- it’s this close to being tied to the dock.

And the defense responded, making plays and actually stopping the Cowboys when it mattered after allowing 21 first-half points. The visitors were scoreless in the second half.

The big defensive play came with 2:41 to go in regulation. The Chargers were up 31-20, but Dallas was driving. Tony Romo threw a pass to the goal line that was complete to receiver Terrance Williams. But when he reached to put the ball over the stripe, undrafted rookie safety Jahleel Addae batting it from his hand into the end zone, where corner Richard Marshall recovered to seal things.

“They did a fantastic of controlling the football and controlling the game,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett would say. “Rivers did a great job getting them into the right plays over and over again. He threw the ball as well as he has in a long time. They stayed on the field. They limited our offense.”

The Chargers ran off 70 plays. They gained 506 total yards, 107 of it rushing. They had 27 first downs. The Cowboys managed 307 total yards. Even after rush linebacker Dwight Freeney left with a groin pull in the second quarter, the defense managed to swarm and make plays when it had to.

“There’s a lot of good all around with the whole team,” McCoy said after the win, speaking at about 150 mph. “But this is just one game. It’s another step. We have a division opponent (Oakland) next week, so it’s the next one on the list. But I’m very proud of this football team, the way they played. There was great energy and excitement in the stadium, and that’s the way it has to be all the time.”